followers] will remain [steadfast] in his affair except for very few.

followers] will remain [steadfast] in his affair except for very few. No one will know his whereabouts from his friends or anybody else except a servant who looks after his affairs. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī[^5]: Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Sa`īd b. `Uqda, from Muḥammad b. al-Mufaḍḍal b. Ibrāhīm b. Qays and Sa`dān [Sa`d] b. Isḥāq b. Sa`īd and Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn [al-Ḥasan] b. `Abd al-Malik and Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan al-Qaṭawānī, all of them from al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from Ibrāhīm [b.

Ziyād] al-Khāriqī, from Abū Baṣīr who said: I said to (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, that (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, used to say, “The Qā’im from the family of Muḥammad will have two occultations and one of them will be longer than the other.” He said, “Yes, and this will not occur until the family of so and so clash with each other, war rages (taḍīq al-ḥalqa), the Sufyānī appears, calamities intensify, death and killings engulf the people, and they seek refuge in the Sanctum of Allah (ḥaram Allāh) and the Sanctum of His Messenger (ḥaram rasūlih), Allah’s blessings be on him and his family.” Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī[^6]: `Abd al-Wāḥid b.

`Abd-Allah, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Rabāḥ, from Aḥmad b. `Alī al-Ḥimyarī, from al-Ḥasan b. Ayyūb, from `Abd al-Karīm b. `Amr, from al-`Alā b. Razīn, from Muḥammad b. Muslim al-Thaqafī, from (Imam) al-Bāqir Abū Ja`far, peace be upon him, who said: “The Qā’im will have two occultations. In one of them, [some will say] ‘he has perished’ and [others will say,] ‘No one knows where he is.’” Al-Kāfī[^7]: Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā and Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī al-Kūfī, from `Alī b.

Ḥassān, from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Kathīr, from al-Mufaḍḍal b. `Umar who said: I heard (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, say, “The master of this affair will have two occultations: in one of them, he will return to his family.

As for the other, [some will say] ‘he has perished’ and [others will say,] ‘No one knows where he is.’” I asked, “What should we do when this happens?” He replied, “When somebody claims [to be him], ask him about matters that only someone like him can answer.” Al-Kāfī[^8]: Al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad from al-Qāsim b. Ismā’īl al-Anbārī, from Yaḥyā b. al-Muthannā, from `Abd-Allah b. Bukair, from `Ubaid b.

Zurāra, from Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, who said: “The Qā’im will have two occultations.